Charles Brown was a builder. He lived in Old Ford, and then Edmonton and Enfield Highway.
Charles James Sanderson lived at No. 4, Hornsey Lane.
The Court of King's Bench was founded circa 1200 to hear common pleas, although it came to specialise in pleas of special interest and concern to the king, such as those which involved his own property interests, or breach of his peace, or an error of judgment by another royal court. By 1675 the King's Bench was the highest court of common law in England and Wales, with jurisdiction over both civil and criminal actions. Civil business was conducted on the 'Plea Side' and criminal business on the 'Crown Side'. It was absorbed into the High Court in 1875.
Source: The National Archives Research Guides "Legal Records Information 34" and "Legal Records Information 36"
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
Burleigh House, Enfield, was built circa 1700 west of the market-place. It was replaced soon after 1913 by a cinema, with shops along the street frontage of the grounds.
From: 'Enfield: Growth before 1850', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 212-218 (available online).
The sales particulars detail properties in various locations including Mill Hill, Harrow, Hendon, Hampton, Wealdstone, Chiswick, Northolt, Chadwell Heath, Southall, Lampton, Twickenham, Teddington, Yeading, West Drayton, Yiewsley, Golders Green, Eastcote, Wembley, Ruislip Manor, Edgware, Staines, and Cranford.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
If a person died intestate (without a valid will) their money, goods and possessions passed to their next of kin through an administration (or letters of administration) which had the same form in law as a will.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The documents are concerned with 69, later 73, Cambridge Road and 71, later 75, Cambridge Road.
Thomas Duffus Hardy was born in 1804, the son of Major Hardy, obtaining a junior clerkship in the Record Office at the Tower of London in 1819, with the assistance of Samuel Lysons. Several publications of the Record Commission were edited by him, while working at the Tower, including the Close Rolls from AD 1204-12 and The Patent Rolls for the reign of King John. Lord Langdale, Master of the Rolls, appointed him as Deputy-Keeper of the Public Record Office in 1861. During this period he was responsible for important reports on documents and a number of publications, writing a biography of Lord Langdale and editing several works for the Rolls Series of Chronicles and Memorials. The establishment of the Historical Manuscripts Commission was largely the result of Thomas's effort. The value of his work was acknowledged by a Knighthood in 1873, five years before his death.
William Hardy, the younger brother of Thomas Duffus Hardy, was born in 1807. Like Thomas he obtained a junior post in the Record Office at the Tower, until in 1830 he accepted the post of Keeper of the Records of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was also permitted to accept private work connected with antiquarian, legal and genealogical inquiries. In 1868 he was transferred to the Public Record Office as Assistant-Keeper, eventually becoming Deputy Keeper on the death of his brother in 1878. William retired in 1886, a year before his death. Other public activities included Fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries in 1839 and being placed in the Historical Manuscript Commission in 1887. He received a knighthood for his services in 1884.
William John Hardy was the second son of Sir William Hardy, being born in 1857. He was educated privately and subsequently became a legal and genealogist record searcher, working for some time in partnership with Mr W. Page at 15 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn. Experience in this profession had been gained previously by working in that capacity with his father, before the latter's appointment as Deputy-Keeper of the Public Record Office. His work involved him in numerous other activities including membership of the Council of Society of Antiquaries 1887-89, 1891-3, 1895-7, 1907, 1912; Inspector of Historical Manuscripts; editorship of Calendar of State Paper, William and Mary, and of Middlesex and Hertfordshire Notes and Queries, from 1895 to 1898 and of Home Counties Magazine from 1899 to 1904. In addition to such activities he was also responsible for several publications, such as Book Plates, 1893, Lighthouses: their History and Romance, 1895, and Documents Illustrative of Church History, 1896.
A chapel was constructed in Uxbridge possibly as early as 1200, and was dedicated to Saint Margaret by 1281. According to the 'History of the County of Middlesex', "A chantry for the soul of Walter Shiryngton, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was endowed in 1459 with 27 acres of land and tenements in the town. Shiryngton's chantry was worth £7 in 1535, and in 1548 the chantry possessions, which included the 'Bull' and the 'Cross Keys' in Uxbridge, were valued at £11". This is probably the chantry referred to in this document.
Source: 'Hillingdon, including Uxbridge: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 87-91 (available online).
The parliamentary constituency of Tottenham is situated in the borough of Haringey. It was established in 1885 when it also included the Wood Green area. Between 1885 and 1918 the area returned Liberal candidates.
In 1918 the seat was divided into Tottenham North and Tottenham South, while Wood Green became a separate constituency. Between 1918 and 1950 the Tottenham seats were held by a mix of Conservative and Labour candidates. In 1950 the seats were reunited into the current Tottenham constituency, covering Tottenham, Tottenham Hale, Haringay, West Green, Seven Sisters, Bruce Grove, Northumberland Park and Finsbury Park. Since 1950 the seat has been held by Labour candidates.
The Wood Green constituency returned Conservative Members of Parliament between 1918 and 1950. Between 1950 and 1983 it returned Labour politicians. The constituency was abolished in 1983 and merged with Hornsey to form the parliamentary constitutency of Hornsey and Wood Green, comprising half of the borough of Haringey, covering Wood Green, Noel Park, Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Cranley Gardens and Highgate. The new seat was held by the Conservatives until 1992 when a Labour candidate was successful. In 2005 and 2010 the seat was taken by the Liberal Democrats.
The first assessments of 1692-3 were made under the terms of an "Act for granting to their Majesties an aid of four shillings in the pound for one year for carrying on a vigorous war against France" [4W and M c.1, 1692/3]. The Act specfied that real estate and personal property, that is buildings and moveable property as well as land, were to be taxed. It nominated, for each borough and county in England and Wales, the local commissioners who were to supervise the assessments and local collection.
The tax was voted annually, usually in the spring, until 1798 when it was transformed into a permanent tax, but was redeemable on a payment of a lump sum. It was levied on a number of different bases: as a pound rate between 1693 and 1696, as a four shillings assessment supplemented by a poll tax in 1697 and, from 1698-1798, on the system whereby each county or borough was given a fixed sum to collect. In 1949 redemption became compulsory on property changing hands and in 1963 all unredeemed land tax was abolished.
The assessors for each county are listed in the annual Acts of Parliament, until 1798. The sums collected for the counties of London, and Middlesex (and the City of Westminster) appear, until at least 1760, to have been passed to the Chamber of London and subsequently to the Exchequer.
There is no unifying factor to these papers (e.g. that they relate to property owned by one estate or family or the legal work of one office), they were simply collected for their antiquarian interest before being passed to the archive.
A demicastor was a hat made of inferior beaver fur, often mixed with other furs.
Morven Park is a Victorian house situated in Potters Bar. It was purchased by the National Trust in 1930. It is now (2010) a care home for the elderly.
During the late 16th century the need for a fresh water supply to the City of London became increasingly apparent. The city was served by an inadequate number of conduits, and its main source of fresh water - the River Thames - was contaminated by sewage and refuse.
After several abortive attempts at legislation, the Corporation of London finally accepted the offer of Hugh Myddelton, a goldsmith of the city, to complete a new conduit in four years. This was in 1609, and by September 1613 the work was duly completed. The conduit, known as the New River, rises from Chadwell Spring in Hertfordshire, and runs approximately 40 miles, finally ending in the Round Pond at New River Head, behind Sadlers Wells Theatre in Rosebery Avenue. As well as providing water for the citizens of London, the New River Company owned a great deal of property along the course of the river, in both Hertfordshire and London.
James I granted a charter to the New River Company in June 1619, and it was incorporated under the title of 'The Governor and Company of the New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London'. The seal of the company depicted the 'hand of Providence bestowing rain' upon the city and its motto was "et plui super unam civitatem" (and I rained upon one city).
Capital for the venture was provided jointly by James I and Hugh Myddelton, along with 28 other 'Adventurers'. On the incorporation of the company the two parties divided the shares between them; James I owned the King's Shares. The Adventurers' Shares were divided into 36 parts, 22 of the directors owning one part, and 7 others (including Hugh Myddelton) owning two.
The function of the company as a public utility ceased with the passing of the Metropolis Water Act in 1902. By this act the provision of London's water supply was passed from the various water companies to the newly-created Metropolitan Water Board.
As a result of this takeover, the New River Company was re-incorporated in 1904 as a modern property company. It was registered under The Companies Acts 1862-1900 as The New River Company (Limited). The Company was taken over again in 1974 by London Merchant Securities, but still exists as a separate entity within that group.
The Gordon Riots took place in June 1780. On 2 June a 50,000 person crowd assembled in St George's Fields, Southwark, to protest against the repeal of anti-Roman Catholic laws. The march had been organised by Lord George Gordon, MP, leader of the Protestant Association, but he lost control of the crowds. Protestors broke away and began looting and burning Roman Catholic chapels. By 5 June the rioters lost interest in Roman Catholic targets and began general destruction, attacking prisons including Newgate, Clerkenwell, the Fleet, King's Bench and Borough Clink and setting the inmates free. Houses and businesses were attacked; including Downing Street. The crowd stormed the Bank of England but were repelled. On 6 June all was quiet again. Lord Gordon was arrested and tried for high treason but was acquitted. 21 ringleaders were hanged. An estimated 850 people died in the chaos.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
Robert Howard was a member of an old Quaker family who set up in business as a metal and tinplate worker in London in the mid-eighteenth century. His place of business was in Old Street. He associated with A Argand, the Swiss inventor of the standard oil lamp and his son Robert spent some time in Geneva working with Argand {ACC/1270/004}. Another son of Robert Howard, Luke, married Mariabella Eliot, daughter of a wealthy Quaker, eventually bringing to the Howards most of the Eliot property.
Luke Howard was a scientist of note, making a considerable reputation for himself in meteorology {ACC/1270/053, 058, 088, 093}. Goethe was so impressed by Howard's work that he composed a poem in his honour {ACC/1270/085, 086}. Luke Howard purchased the Villa Ackworth near Pontefract, Yorkshire as a place of retirement and both he, his wife and daughter Rachel, took much practical interest in the Quaker schools of the district. He had, before moving to Ackworth, lived for a time at Tottenham, and it was there at Bruce Grove that his son Robert lived after his marriage to Rachel Lloyd, daughter of Samuel and Rachel Lloyd of Birmingham. Howard likewise took a house in the Tottenham district, Lordship Lane, to live in with his wife Maria Crewdson, daughter of William Dilworth Crewdson of Kendal.
Luke Howard inherited through his wife the west country Eliot estate at Ashmore in Dorset {ACC/1270/062, 064, 068, 070}. Throughout the letters of Mariabella Howard, there are afforded glimpses of the controversy that plagued the Society of Friends during the 1810's and 1840's. The American Society of Friends had split over the pressing to its furthest limits of the doctrine of the "inward light" to the neglect of the Scriptures and this provoked a counter-movement in England, spearheaded by Isaac Crewdson's "Beacon of Light". Many Friends left the Society and joined more orthodox evangelical churches. Mariabella Howard was no exception, formally leaving the Society in 1810 {ACC/1270/051}, her son Robert having presumably done likewise {ACC/1270/671}.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Lady Jersey was born in 1753, only daughter of Rt. Rev. Philip Twysden, Bishop of Raphoe, and in 1770 married George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey. She was a friend of the Prince of Wales, and died on 23 July 1821, just four days after his coronation as George IV.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd was formed in 1898 when a merger was negotiated between Watney and Co Ltd of the Stag Brewery, Pimlico; Combe and Co Ltd of the Wood Yard Brewery, Long Acre and Reid's Brewery Co Ltd, of the Griffin Brewery, Clerkenwell. Following the merger the company was the largest brewing concern in the United Kingdom, and was based at Watney's Stag Brewery in Pimlico.
In 1953 Watney purchased (jointly with Beecham Group Ltd) the franchise for Coca-Cola in south and northwest England, setting up Coca-Cola Southern Bottlers Ltd in 1956.
In 1956 it was decided that the Stag Brewery offered no further scope for expansion. Mann, Crossman and Paulin Ltd of Whitechapel was acquired to provide a new London brewery, and its name was changed to Watney Mann Ltd.
In 1962 the trading assets of Watney Mann Ltd were transferred to Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd and it became a holding company. In 1972 Watney Mann was acquired by Grand Metropolitan Hotels and was merged with Truman, Hanbury, Buxton and Co Ltd in 1974. In the 1990s it was Watney Mann and Truman (Holdings) Ltd.
The Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway Company was incorporated on 6 August 1860, and the line opened on 23 September 1868. It ran between Aylesbury and Verney Junction. A planned extension to Buckingham was never completed.
In 1891 the Metropolitan Railway Company acquired the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway Company and used its line as a northern extension of the Metropolitan Railway.
The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway was constructed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited. The line opened in March 1906 running between Baker Street and Lambeth North, and was later extended to Elephant and Castle. The line was soon given the nickname 'Bakerloo', a contraction of Baker and Waterloo; which became so popular that the official name of the line was changed in 1906. By 1913 the line was extended to interchange with Marylebone, Paddington and Edgware Road stations.
The City of London and Southwark Subway Company was incorporated in July 1884 to carry out a scheme to construct a twin-tube cable-traction subway from King William Street [now Monument station] to Elephant and Castle. In 1889 it was decided to run the trains electrically instead of by a cable car method, thus making this the world's first electric tube railway. It was also decided to extend the line to Stockwell, where the electrical generating equipment was housed. In 1890 it was decided to extend the line south to Clapham Common and north to Moorgate and the Angel, Islington. The company name was also changed to the City and South London Railway. A further extension to Kings Cross and Euston stations was opened in 1907. An extension to Camden Town was opened in 1924 and to Morden in 1926.
The City and South London Railway was connected with the Charing Cross to Hampstead line (constructed between 1900 and 1924 as the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway) in 1924 and by 1937 the two railways had been integrated into one system, and renamed the Northern Line. Between 1935 and 1940 the line was extended to High Barnet and Mill Hill East, bringing its total length to 40 miles.
The Great Northern and City Railway ran between Finsbury Park and Moorgate stations. The line was constructed underground but with wide tunnels which could accommodate overland surface-gauge rolling stock, with the intention of allowing trains from the Great Northern Railway to run through to Moorgate.
The railway came under the control of the Metropolitan Railway in 1913, although plans to build an extension to connect it to the Metropolitan Line did not come to fruition. In 1935 it was taken over by the Northern Line and renamed the 'Northern City Line', becoming a branch of the 'Bank branch' of the Northern Line. In 1976 the line was transferred to British Rail and finally used for its intended purpose, when a commuter service was begun running from Moorgate to Welwyn and Hertford.
The Hammersmith and City Railway was constructed by the Great Western Railway, running between Hammersmith and Westbourne Park. It was soon connected to the Metropolitan Railway's underground line. In 1867 the Metropolitan Railway purchased a share in the Hammersmith and City Railway and took over operations. The railway was a branch of the Metropolitan Line until 1988, when the line was split into the Hammersmith and City Line, running services from Hammersmith to Whitechapel, and the Metropolitan Line, running from Amersham to Aldgate.
The Harrow and Uxbridge Railway Company opened a branch line from Roxborough Lane to Uxbridge in 1904; branching off the Metropolitan Railway line which ran to Harrow. The line was electrified in 1905. The Metropolitan Railway Company absorbed the Harrow and Uxbridge Railway Company in 1906 and ran the railway as a branch of the Metropolitan Line.
The East Surrey Traction Company was incepted in 1911 by Arthur Henry Hawkins. The first service ran between Reigate and Redhill but operations expanded rapidly and by 1914 twelve vehicles were serving destinations between Sevenoaks and Caterham. An association was formed with the London General Omnibus Company Limited {LGOC} and by 1923 East Surrey was working more LGOC buses than its own and had changed its company livery from blue to LGOC red.
Throughout its time East Surrey kept careful control of its territory - rival operators were quickly bought out or allowed to fail and the company became the most significant operator in the whole of the area that came to be termed 'London country'.
On 12 June 1929 the LGOC secured control of East Surrey. In its new guise as London General Country Services, the company took over operation of country services north of London as well on 1 March 1932. However, the East Surrey livery virtually disappeared when the London Passenger Transport Board came into being on 1 July 1933.
The London and Suburban Traction Company was formed in 1912, jointly by British Electric Traction and the Underground Electric Railways Company of London Ltd. It was formed with the purpose of merging three existing tram service providers: London United Tramways, Metropolitan Electric Tramways and South Metropolitan Electric Tramways. The company's trams operated mainly in the north of London. The Company became part of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. The decision was made to phase out trams to be replaced by motor buses and trolley buses, and the last tram in London ran in 1952.
The Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) was formed in 1864 in order to raise capital to complete the 'Inner Circle' railway being constructed by the Metropolitan Railway, who constructed the line between Mansion House and South Kensington via Kings Cross. The MDR completed the section of line between South Kensington and Mansion House via Blackfriars, finishing by 1871. The expectation was that the two companies would merge once work was completed. However, they instead had a falling out over finances (and a personality clash of the two Chairmen) and began to run separate services using the same lines. Some agreement was eventually reached so that the final section of line, between Mansion House and Aldgate, was completed in 1884, thus forming the modern day Circle Line.
In an attempt to improve their finances the MDR embarked on a series of line expansions, to Hammersmith in 1874, Richmond in 1877, Ealing Broadway in 1879, Putney Bridge in 1880, Hounslow in 1883, and Wimbledon in 1889. The Whitechapel to Upminster line extension was opened in 1902. The line was electrified in 1905, following the construction of a power station at Lots Road. The majority of the line cosntructed by the MDR forms the modern London Underground District Line, although some sections of line (Ealing to Uxbridge) are now on the Piccadilly Line. The MDR was purchased by Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited and subsequently became part of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.
The Metropolitan Electric Tramways Company Limited was founded in 1894 as the Metropolitan Tramways and Omnibus Company Limited. The company had an agreement with Middlesex County Council to operate electric tramways that the Council was constructing. The company was purchased in 1904 by British Electric Traction who changed the name to Metropolitan Electric Tramways. The area of operations was expanded, including much of Middlesex and parts of Hertfordshire. In 1913 the company became a subsidiary of the London and Suburban Traction Company, which was co-owned by British Electric Traction and Underground Electric Railways Company of London Ltd. In 1933 the company was absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board.
The Tramways M.E.T. Omnibus Company was founded in 1912 as a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Electric Tramways Company Limited, who were joint stockholders with the British Electric Traction Company. The aim of the company was to provide competition with buses which were taking trade away from trams. The company began operating in partnership with the London General Omnibus Company as early as October 1912, and by 1931 their operations had been almost entirely taken over by that company. In 1933 the remainder of the Tramways M.E.T. Omnibus Company was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board.
The Metropolitan Railway Company was responsible for the construction of the world's first underground passenger railway. Work began on the line in 1860, running from Paddington to King's Cross and then on to Farringdon Street. The first trial journey was held in 1862, with the line opened to the public in January 1863. The railway proved popular and extensions were constructed, the first being to Hammersmith by 1864 and Moorgate by 1865. In 1905 an electric service was introduced. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board.
This solicitors firm was founded by Edward Guillaume in 1836. He carried on until 1889. His sons Frederick and Thomas became partners (1864-1920 and 1868-1923 respectively). Thomas's son Theodore served from 1898 to 1973. Guillaume and Sons by early 20th century were commissioners for oaths, and commissioners for the Supreme Court of South Africa. Frederick, Thomas, Theodore, John F and Reginald Guillaume were partners. Merged with Gosling and Wilkinson in 2007 to form Guillaumes.
London office: 14 George Street, Mansion House (1859-1860); 186 Fleet Street (1875); 9 Salisbury Square (1882-) later 1 Salisbury Square, Fleet Street (1928); moved 1950s to 56 Church Street, Weybridge, Surrey (1976); 50 Church Street (2012).
Bournemouth office: Yelverton Chambers, Yelverton Road, Bournemouth, Hampshire (1891); later Hampstead Chambers, Yelverton Road, Bournemouth, Hampshire.
R.F. Fuggle Limited of Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire was a firm of motor engineers and salesmen with additional premises at 67 High Street, Edgware.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The Greater London Council Staff Dramatic Club began in 1903 as the School Board for London Staff Dramatic Club. From the start the club was administered by a small committee elected at an annual general meeting. The London School Board, established in 1870, was abolished under the 1902 and 1903 Education Acts and its work was assumed by the London County Council in April 1904. The club continued as the LCC (Education) Staff Dramatic Club or more simply the LCC Dramatic Club until 1965. In that year the provisions of the London Local Government Act of 1963 came into force and the newly formed Greater London Council began its work. The club was subsequently known as the Greater London Council (Staff) Dramatic Club.
A bond was a deed, by which person A binds himself, his heirs, executors, or assigns to pay a certain sum of money to person B, or his heirs.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Cuthbert Coates Smith of Herne Hill, engineer, and Bernard Edgar Aylwn of West End Lane, then Middlesex, engineer, traded as The Vaal Motor and Launch Company and were based at Eel Pie Island, Twickenham.
The Clitherow family first became prominent as merchants in the City of London in the 16th century, acquiring property in the parishes of St Mary Woolchurch and St Andrew Undershaft (see ACC/1360/021-022) as well as in adjoining counties.
In 1635 Sir Christopher Clitherow was chosen Lord Mayor of London. One of his younger sons, James Clitherow (referred to in the list of the records as James Clitherow {I}), born in 1618, was active as a merchant and banker by 1642, until his death in 1682. In 1670 he purchased Boston Manor in New Brentford from John Goldsmith, and extensively repaired the house which had been damaged by fire (see ACC/1360/028/1-8 and ACC/1360/440). On his death in 1682 James Clitherow {I} left Boston Manor to Christopher, his only son by his third wife, who was born in 1666. He also left a son, James, by his first wife, as well as two daughters, Jane Jenyns and Elizabeth Powel. On reaching his majority Christopher Clitherow continued his father's practice of holding money on deposit for relations, friends, tenants, and other (see ACC/1360/441-442). He and his father acquired additional property in Middlesex, mainly in the parishes of Ealing, Hanwell, Isleworth and Hayes. They also purchased or inherited from other members of the Clitherow family land in Pinner, estates at Langham in Rutland, Lolham in Northamptonshire, Keyston in Huntingdonshire, and fee farm rents in Berkshire and Middlesex.
Christopher Clitherow married Rachel Paule in 1689, who bore him fifteen children before dying in 1714. Christopher Clitherow's summaries of his personal expenditure 1699-1727 (ref ACC/1360/450-472) show his anxiety to control his expenditure on his large family. He established some of his younger sons as merchants in the City of London, or in the case of Henry, as an East India merchant in Bombay (see ACC/1360/341/12), but of these only Nathaniel, a mercer, lived long enough to marry.
On Christopher Clitherow's death in 1727, Boston Manor was inherited by his eldest son, James Clitherow {II}, who appears to have been brought up to be a country gentleman, completing his education at Oxford. In January 1731 he married Philippa Gale, one of the three daughters of Leonard Gale of Crabbet in Sussex. On the deaths of both her brother Henry and her father in 1750, Philippa Clitherow and her two sisters, Elizabeth Humphery and Sarah Blunt, each inherited a third share of their lands in Crawley, Worth, Ifield, Beeding, Steyning, and East Grinstead in Sussex, as well as of his other property. They also inherited the property of their relation, Henry Gale of Ifield, who had died in 1739, subject to an annuity to his wife, Mary. The Sussex property was owned in common until 1761, when it was divided between the heirs of the three sisters.
James Clitherow {II} died in 1752 leaving Boston Manor and his other estates to his elder son, James Clitherow {III}, who was born in October 1731. By making a careful examination of his financial situation on entering into his inheritance, he discovered that his income would be considerably less than he had expected, owing mainly to the generous provision made by his father for his wife and younger children (see ACC/1360/167/11). This induced him to keep careful accounts of his expenditure, adopting some of his grandfather's methods, and to take an active part in the management of his estates, including his mother's Sussex estates which she had handed over to him on his marriage in 1757 to Ann Kemeys. He also paid great attention to the orderly keeping and labelling of title deeds and other records and papers, relating both to his estate and to family affairs. The survival of so few expired leases amongst the Clitherow papers is probably explained by the family's practice of cutting up old leases and other deeds of no apparent value and using the blank side of the parchment as covers for books or labels for bundles of documents.
In 1781 James Clitherow {III} received an unexpected bequest from a neighbour, Martha Heddin of Isleworth, the last survivor of a large family of unmarried sisters and one brother, who had died childless. Rather than dividing her property amongst her numerous impoverished cousins, Martha Heddin sought to keep intact the estates accumulated by her family in the parishes of Isleworth, Twickenham and Heston, by leaving them all to one gentleman who already had substantial property. Her intentions were largely defeated by an Irish gentleman, Lieutenant Colonel Redmond Kelly, who after her death produced a bond for 5,000 supposedly signed by Martha Heddin. In order to satisfy his claims, James Clitherow had to sell much of the Heddin property. (For full accounts of this and an "epitaph" to Martha Heddin see ACC/1360/232).
His abilities, integrity, and reputation made James Clitherow {III} much in demand as an executor of wills and as trustee of his relations' and friends' affairs. The more notable trusts included those on behalf of his brother-in-law, Sir William Blackstone, who had married Sarah Clitherow in 1761; the Bourchier family of Hertfordshire whose property included shares in a lead mine in Brittany; his cousin's husband, Philip Barling, a surgeon, who seemed to be in constant financial difficulties in his old age; the Baker family, lessees of an estate in Saint Marylebone, during the minority of Peter William Baker, who subsequently married James Clitherow's daughter, Jane, in 1781; and the Feilde family of Stanstead Abbots, Hertfordshire. Paul Feilde was one of James Clitherow's fellow trustees in what was to prove by far the most troublesome and expensive of the trusts in which he was involved, that undertaken in 1774 on behalf of John Gardner Kemeys, whose wife Jane was the sister of James Clitherow's wife, Ann. Jane Gardner Kemeys had inherited the Bartholey estate in Monmouthshire from her father, Reginald Kemeys, while her husband owned a share in the Plantain Garden River Plantation in Jamaica. By the early 1770s he was so deeply in debt that the only way to avoid ruin appeared to be obtain a private Act of Parliament enabling him to vest all his estates, settled and unsettled, in trustees, who then mortgaged them in order to raise money to pay his debts. The trustees also lent money to John Gardner Kemeys to enable him to travel to Jamaica to take over direct management of the plantation. But he failed either to pay the interest on the mortgage himself or to remit money to his trustees, resulting in the mortgagees taking possession of all his estates both in Jamaica and in Monmouthshire in 1779. Legal action was taken against the trustees forcing them to raise further large sums from their own resources. On being forced to leave Bartholey, Jane Gardner Kemeys and her daughters sought refuge in Monmouth, with the help of friends and relatives. Her troubles were compounded by the elopement of her elder daughter, Jane, with a servant, Providence Hansard. After the death of John Gardner Kemeys in 1793, his son, John Kemeys Gardner Kemeys, after many years' endeavours and the passing of two further private Acts of Parliament in 1794 and 1801 finally succeeded in regaining possession of the family estates.
On the death of James Clitherow {III} in May 1805, his estates were inherited by his only son, Colonel James Clitherow {IV}. The original deposit from the Clitherow family contained very little relating to his management of the family property, although a ledger covering the period 1805-1820 was purchased as an addition to the collection in 2013. With two exceptions, the Clitherow papers do not contain anything relating to the many public duties which Colonel James Clitherow undertook in Middlesex, where he was a Justice of the Peace and Chairman of the Committee responsible for building the first county lunatic asylum for Middlesex at Hanwell (see MA/A/J1-J2 and MJ/SP/1827/LC/1-24).
Colonel James Clitherow died in 1841 leaving no children. He left Boston Manor and his other estates to his wife, Jane, for her life, then after her death in 1847, they passed to his cousin, General John Clitherow (1782-1852). A rental book covering the period 1841-1847 was purchased as an addition to the collection in 2013. Very little survives amongst the Clitherow papers relating to the tenure of the family estates either by General Clitherow or by his only son, John Christie Clitherow, who died unmarried in 1865. Ownership of Boston Manor then passed to his cousin, Colonel Edward John Stracey, the elder son of Emma Elizabeth Clitherow, daughter of Christopher Clitherow, who had married John Stracey of Sprowston, Norfolk, the fourth son of Sir Edward Stracey. On inheriting Boston Manor, Edward John Stracey adopted the additional name and arms of Clitherow in accordance with the terms of Colonel James Clitherow's will.
Edward John Stracey-Clitherow also inherited from his cousin the reversion to the Hotham Hall estate in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which had been settled on John Christie Clitherow in 1819. John Clitherow had in 1809 married Sarah, daughter of General Napier Christie Burton and his wife, Mary, who was daughter and heiress of General Ralph Burton of Hull Bank House, Cottingham, East Yorkshire. Their marriage resulted in the birth of an only child, John Christie Clitherow, in December 1809, but was ended by the Clitherow Divorce Act of 1819 (59 George III c.71). In 1822 Sarah Clitherow married Hugh Peters, who took the name Burton. In the same year she inherited Hotham Hall on the death of her brother, Robert Christie Burton. Ownership of Hotham Hall passed to Edward John Stracey-Clitherow on the death of Sarah Burton in 1869. Colonel Stracey-Clitherow, who had married Harriet Marjoribanks in 1846, on dying childless in 1900, left the Hotham estate to his nephew, Colonel John Bourchier Stracey, later Stracey-Clitherow, while Boston Manor passed to his younger brother, the Reverend William James Stracey, who assumed the name Stracey-Clitherow.
Little record survives amongst the original Clitherow Papers of Edward John Stracey-Clitherow's tenure of the family estates, or of his other activities, but a rental book covering the period 1865-1875 was purchased as an addition to the collection in 2013. Much more exists relating to his brother, William James, and to his brother's eldest son, John Bourchier Stracey-Clitherow, but their connection or interest in Boston Manor and Middlesex was considerably less than that of their predecessors. The Reverend William James Stracey-Clitherow did not inherit Boston Manor until he was aged almost 80. He retired in 1888 to 50 Portland Place in London, where he continued to live after he inherited Boston Manor.
His eldest son, Colonel John Bourchier Stracey-Clitherow took up residence at Hotham Hall in the autumn of 1900 and became much involved in the county activities of the East Riding, being commissioned a major in the East Riding Yeomanry in 1902 (ACC/1360/780) and helping to establish the Territorial Force Association of the East Riding of Yorkshire (see ACC/1360/781/1-87). In 1897 he had married Mrs Alice Gurney, who had four children by her first marriage: Laura, Lady Troubridge, Rachel, Countess of Dudley, Major Henry Edward Gurney, and Thomas Claud Gurney. In 1906 he married Muriel Frances Sykes, daughter of the late Mr C.P. Sykes of West Ella Hall, near Hull.
John Bourchier Stracey-Clitherow inherited Boston Manor on his father's death in 1912. In 1923 he sold the Boston Manor estate. Brentford Urban District Council brought Boston House and 20 acres of land, which they opened as a public park in 1924. On John Bourchier Stracey-Clitherow's death in 1931, he left the Hotham estate to his younger stepson, Thomas Claud Gurney, who in 1932 assumed by Royal Licence the surname and arms of Clitherow in lieu of his patronymic.
The insurance policy was taken out with The North China Insurance Company Limited, of 78 Cornhill, London.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.
An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.
A quitclaim was a deed renouncing any possible right to a property. The name comes from the Latin "Quietus Clamatus".
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The Hampton Court Gas Company was instituted in 1850 and provisionally registered in 1851 and 1852. Full registration of the company was obtained on 29 November 1852, after the completion of a deed of settlement, under the name of the Hampton Court United Gas Company, being a joint stock company for the purpose of supplying the parish and neighbourhood of Hampton with inflammable air or gas. The initial capital was £7,500 in 750 shares of £10 each, and the place of business was designated to be the Red Lion Inn, Hampton.
Office and works were built at Sandy Lane, Hampton Wick in the parishes of Hampton and Teddington. By 1937 the company had expanded the works in Sandy Lane, and the offices and showrooms were situated at Bridge Foot, Hampton Wick. Initially, gas was supplied to the parishes of Hampton, including Hampton Court Palace, Teddington and East and West Molesey in Surrey. By the Hampton Court Gas Act, 1867, the supply was extended to the parishes of Hanworth and Feltham, additional capital of £36,000 in paid up shares of £10 each was raised, and the company was incorporated under the name of the Hampton Court Gas Company.
The company continued to function under its board of directors until the nationalisation of the gas industry was implemented by the Gas Act, 1948. The board held its last meeting on 14 April 1949, and thus the company was deprived of its centenary celebrations.
The last area developed before the First World War was around Sudbury station, where the railway crossed the Harrow road just west of Wembley. The Copland sisters contributed by building a church, vicarage, and school on their estate, just west of the station. By 1852 there were nine buildings on the Harrow road between the 'Swan' and Sudbury station. Although as early as 1866 land in Alperton was offered to builders as being near Sudbury station, it was not until the end of the century that the area around the station was sold for building. After the death of General Copland Crawford in 1895, the Copland estate, then called Harrowdene estate, was open to development, mainly by the Conservative Land Co., and by 1897 many roads had been laid out on both sides of the Harrow road.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 198-203 (available online).
In the mid-nineteenth century the Scott Turner family lived at The Lodge. Horn Lane, Acton. Henry Scott Turner Esquire is listed as a private resident in Kelly's Middlesex Directories of 1855 and 1867. Cecil Turner remembered the house where he lived as a small child. "Went to Acton... Walked round Horn Lane and saw the gardener at the gates so got him to take me all round the garden and over the house- my earliest home- all looking sweet and comparatively unchanged-the house quite empty and the rooms where we played as children silent and solitary" (ACC/1385/009, 1 March). The Lodge was demolished in the first decade of the twentieth century, but the family maintained its links with the district, as the graves in neighbouring Perivale churchyard bear witness.
Soon after the death of her husband in 1871, Mrs. Turner and her three sons went to live in Uxbridge. Looking back in 1943 Cecil remembered his sixth birthday at Uxbridge in 1876 (ACC 1385/050) and on 22 June 1901 he visited "Southfield-my old home" (ACC/1385/008). Kelly's Middlesex Directory for 1882 lists a Mrs. Turner at 41, St. Andrew's, Uxbridge. The family's movements can be traced through the diaries, the first four being written by M.F.Turner, Cecil's mother. The Turners left Uxbridge on 24 June 1886 and, for the next two years Mrs. Turner lodged at a variety of addresses in London and paid extended visits to friends and relatives in other parts of the country. From 23 May, 1888, she took up residence at the Elms, Ealing, but by 1898 she and Cecil had moved to 99 Elm Park gardens, Chelsea. In 1919, they were joined by Cecil's brother Alec who had spent over two years as a prisoner of war in Germany. After the death of their mother in October 1931 the two unmarried brothers moved into the Vanderbilt hotel, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, where Cecil lived alone after Alec's death in December 1938. Happily, he wrote in 1955, "after 22 years of hotel life I am living in my home 9 Alexander Square, S.W.3" (ACC 1385/062). It was here that he wrote the last entries in his diary as he prepared to enter hospital for an operation in April 1956.
Plans for the construction of two reservoirs and diversion of the River Lea were drawn up by the East London Water Works Company, partly in Tottenham and Edmonton and partly in Chingford and Walthamstow. The works were carried out under the East London Water Works Act, 1897 and were intended to secure a greater supply of water for an increasing population and to provide a reserve of water in case of drought. The works were executed by Messrs. Pearson and Son and the formal opening ceremony took place on 8 June 1903.
The collection relates to the land holdings of Benjamin Eager of Old Brentford, a gardener, and his wife Mary.
Thomas Wentworth (1672-1739) became Baron Raby on the death of his cousin, the second Earl of Strafford, 1695, and was created 3rd Earl of Strafford in 1711. He married in the same year Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Johnson of Bradenham, Bucks. He is known to have held property in Twickenham in 1699 and in 1701 purchased a riverside estate there. (See ACC/1379/036ff for property transactions in manor of Isleworth Syon and ACC/0782/003 for similar transactions in manor of Twickenham.) Thomas, Earl of Strafford, died in 1739 and was succeeded by his son William, who died without issue in 1791. The property in Twickenham passed to Thomas's daughter, Lady Anne Connolly.
Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd was formed in 1898 when a merger was negotiated between Watney and Co Ltd of the Stag Brewery, Pimlico; Combe and Co Ltd of the Wood Yard Brewery, Long Acre and Reid's Brewery Co Ltd, of the Griffin Brewery, Clerkenwell. Following the merger the company was the largest brewing concern in the United Kingdom, and was based at Watney's Stag Brewery in Pimlico.
The Stag Brewhouse and Brewery, Pimlico, was founded in 1636 by John Greene and his son Sir William Greene. In 1837 James Watney, a miller, bought a quarter share in the Stag Brewery, alongside John Elliot. From 1849 the firm was known as Elliot, Watney and Co. John Elliot withdrew from the business in 1850, remaining a partner in name only until 1858 when he retired. The firm became known as James Watney and Co. In 1885 Watney and Co Ltd was registered as a limited liability company.
Combe and Co Ltd was founded in 1722 by John Shackley in a former timber yard off Long Acre, London. In 1739 the business was acquired by William Gyfford who enlarged the premises, trading as Gyfford and Co. In 1787 the brewery was purchased by Harvey Christian Combe, a malt factor, but it was not until 1839 that the firm began to trade as Combe and Co. The Wood Yard Brewery closed in 1905 but the Combe family continued to take a major role in the management of Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd.
In 1757 Richard Meux and Mungo Murray acquired the Jackson's Brewery in Mercer Street. When this was damaged in a major fire they constructed new premises at Liquorpond Street (now Clerkenwell Road). In 1793 Andrew Reid joined the business which became known as Meux, Reid and Co. In 1816 the Meux family left the business which changed its name to Reid and Co. The company was registered in 1888 as Reid's Brewery Co Ltd. On the merger with Watney and Combe it ceased to brew.
In 1956 Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd decided that the Stag Brewery offered no further scope for expansion. Mann, Crossman and Paulin Ltd of Whitechapel was acquired to provide a new London brewery, and the company name was changed to Watney Mann Ltd.
The Isleworth Brewery, St John's Road, Isleworth, passed through various owners until it was acquired by William Farnell in 1800, thereafter it remained in the Farnell family. In 1886 it was incorporated as a limited liability company; and acquired Sich and Co Ltd of Chiswick. In 1923 it was acquired by Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd.
Although bodies of volunteer horse had been raised during the reign of William III and at the time of the '45 rising, and for home defence in 1761, it was not until 1794 that the yeomanry was organised under the act of 34 Geo. III c.31. Following the early success of the French Revolutionary armies, the yeomanry came into being in 1794 to replace the cavalry regiments of the line which were drafted overseas. By 1798 every county and several large towns had raised troops of yeomanry.
After 1816 the Yeomanry were reduced, but unlike the infantry volunteers, were not disbanded. For many years until the establishment of county police forces, they played an important part in the maintenance of public order, being frequently called out to suppress riots and other disorders. In 1897 the number of men serving in the Yeomanry was 10,084.
On 20 December 1899, shortly after the outbreak of the South African war (1899-1902) The Times announced that the War Office had issued regulations with reference to Yeomanry in South Africa.: 'Her Majesty's Government have decided to raise for service in South Africa a mounted infantry to be named "The Imperial Yeomanry"'. Three thousand Yeomanry volunteered for service.
After the war, the Imperial Yeomanry School for Girls opened in Alperton Hall near Wembley to educate, board and clothe the daughters of the yeomen who were killed, permanently disabled or died from disease in the war. Later it was intended that similar benefits should be extended to the sons of these yeomen. Children, approved by the Executive Committee, of NCO's and men who had served or were serving in the Yeomanry in Great Britain and Ireland and who were in difficult circumstances were also to be included.